Nicola Adams smiling
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Strictly star Nicola Adams clears up tweet about women’s boxing at the Olympics

Nicola is a two-time gold medal winner

| Updated:

Former Strictly star Nicola Adams appeared to wrongly suggest a women’s boxer at the 2024 Olympics was born male.

Her tweet followed after Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her fight yesterday (August 1) against Algeria’s Imane Khelif after 46 seconds. Angela stated she had “never felt a punch like this” before.

However, the International Olympic Committee shared its own statement. It revealed the gender of athletes at the Games was based on their passports. Imane was born biologically female.

Nicola Adams smiling with her gold medal
Nicola won a gold medal for Team GB in 2012 and 2016 (Credit: Splashnews.com)

Nicola Adams calls Olympics decision ‘unfair and dangerous’

Gold medal winner for Team GB in 2012 and 2016 Nicola took to X to share her opinion on the matter today (August 2).

“After years of fighting for women’s boxing to even exist in the Olympics and then all the training they go through to get there it was hard to watch another fighter be forced to give up on her Olympic dreams,” she wrote.

“People not born as biological women, that have been through male puberty, should not be able to compete in women’s sport. Not only is this unfair it’s dangerous!”

Nicola’s tweet appeared to incorrectly suggest that Khelif was not born biologically female. She later added: “Just to be clear what I said has nothing to do with transgender.”

Angela Carini and Imane Khelif Olympic boxing match
Angela Carini and Imane Khelif competed during Thursday’s women’s boxing match (Credit: YouTube)

‘The IBA will never support any boxing bouts between the genders’

However, the IOC shared that misleading information about Imane had been circulated.

“The IBA will never support any boxing bouts between the genders,” the statement read. “The organisation puts the safety and well-being of our athletes first.

“We are protecting our women and their rights to compete in the ring against equal rivals,” it continued.

“We will defend and support them in all instances; their hopes and dreams must never be taken away by organisations unwilling to do the right thing under difficult circumstances,” it then concluded.

Read more: All the perks Olympians get for winning gold, silver or bronze: Diamonds, apartments and half a million pounds

Olympics Gender Boxing Row Sparks Controversy | This Morning

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Fabio Magnocavallo
Freelance Writer